Diseases of the liver can have dramatic consequences for the rest of your body. Your liver filters toxins from your blood and performs several other vital functions. So when it is not working well, it affects the rest of your body. The liver care teams at NewYork-Presbyterian are among the best in the world and attract patients from across the globe. Our experienced liver specialists provide the full range of treatments, including medical management, interventional approaches and minimally invasive surgeries that are not widely available elsewhere. We are also national leaders in liver transplantation, with one of the country’s largest living donor liver programs, and offer this approach for people whose liver disease cannot be effectively treated using other methods.

Many liver diseases are associated with other disorders or have complications. If this is the case for you, we can connect you with other doctors at NewYork-Presbyterian to address those medical needs as well—all in one medical center.

Comprehensive Care for All Liver and Bile Duct Diseases

Our teams provide care for every type and stage of liver and bile duct disorder, including:

Autoimmune hepatitis

Bile duct cancer (cholangiocarcinoma)

Primary and Secondary Sclerosing Cholangitis

Cirrhosis

Fatty liver disease

Gallstones and other gallbladder diseases

Hepatitis B

Hepatitis C

Liver and bile duct cancer (hepatocellular and cholangiocarcinoma)

Portal hypertension

Primary biliary cirrhosis

Acute Liver Failure

Advanced Diagnostic Techniques

Liver diseases can cause symptoms that mimic other illnesses, so an accurate diagnosis is necessary. It is also essential to evaluate the condition of your liver, or how much scarring (if any) has developed. We have all of the tools to diagnose the cause of your symptoms, including liver biopsy, interventional endoscopic procedures, and imaging tests. We also utilize non-invasive technologies such as Fibroscan® and Magnetic Resonance Elastography, which enables us to assess the condition of your liver without having to do a liver biopsy. From routine blood tests to sophisticated radiologic and endoscopic techniques, you can receive all the testing you need at NewYork-Presbyterian.

Expertise in Interventional Endoscopy and Radiology

Many liver and gallbladder diseases once treated with invasive surgery can now be managed with interventional endoscopy—procedures performed through a flexible tube inserted into your mouth, to gain access to the bile duct(with sedation). NewYork-Presbyterian is home to the largest and most pre-eminent interventional endoscopy program in the New York region. Examples of the procedures offered for liver and bile duct diseases include:

Endoscopic ultrasound (EUS). The use of a special endoscope with high-energy sound waves ("echoendoscope") to see your digestive tract and nearby organs.

Spyglass® Direct Visualization System and Probe-based confocal endomicroscopy. NewYork-Presbyterian is one of few hospitals offering this highly specialized approach, which involves the use of a small scope to view the small branches of the bile duct.

Narrow band imaging. With this endoscopic technique, our doctors use a special system to capture high-resolution images of the liver and bile ducts without the use of dyes. NBI relies on the fact that light of different wavelengths penetrates tissue at different depths, and can be used to see fine features of the lining (mucosa) of your bile ducts.

ERCP (endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography). An interventional endoscopist guides an endoscope through your mouth to the bile ducts, releases a dye that assists in imaging, and then x-rays them. NewYork-Presbyterian’s interventional endoscopists also use ERCP to insert a stent to relieve bile duct blockages and to treat gallstones. They routinely perform ERCP and are highly regarded experts in its use.

Interventional Radiology. Our internationally recognized team of interventional radiologists use state of the art techniques to diagnose and treat multiple liver conditions including biliary obstruction, portal hypertension, and liver cancer.

Pioneering Liver Transplantation

At NewYork-Presbyterian, you are ten times more likely to receive a liver transplant than at other hospitals in the region, with an average wait time of just nine months. Our surgeons in the Center for Liver Disease and Transplantation have performed more than 2,000 liver transplants, with outcomes that meet or surpass national averages. They use a variety of approaches including living donor liver transplantation to extend the limits of organ transplantation and provide the greatest number of transplants possible.

Clinical Trials for Liver Disease

For many people with liver disease, available treatments can help slow disease progression but do not offer a cure. Our researchers want to change this scenario. They are conducting clinical trials of innovative treatment approaches and investigational drugs that show promise for people with liver diseases such as hepatitis B and C, biliary and liver cancers, cirrhosis, fatty liver disease, portal hypertension, primary sclerosis cholangitis, and others. Your treatment team will let you know if you are eligible for a clinical trial.